MOSCOW: Defending champion Elena Dementieva beat Nadia Petrova 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup. Petrova went 4-3 up in the all-Russian match with a break in the seventh game of the first set, but Dementieva won three consecutive games to take the set. Dementieva was leading 4-1 in the second set but Petrova came back strongly and won five consecutive games to level the match at one set each. In the third, Dementieva again took a 4-1 lead but Petrova rallied back to 4-4 and then both players held their serves to force a tiebreaker which Dementieva won on her third match point. Tough going “It was not an easy match,” Dementieva said. “There were many missed chances for me today.” Another Russian, Vera Zvonareva also advanced, beating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4....
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